From Generic Extracurriculars to Real-World Achievements

Joining robotics club is one thing. Building an original engineering project is another.

Taking AP Biology is one thing. Conducting research and presenting the findings is another.

Writing for school is one thing. Producing work that earns recognition outside the classroom is another.

So how does a student actually make that leap?

During this virtual event, we’ll show you how students can take an existing interest, activity, hobby, or question and turn it into something much more substantial.

That might mean research. A competition. A publication. A business. An internship. A leadership initiative. An original project.

Using The FlightPlan, a college strategy platform from Curious Cardinals, we’ll show you how to identify where a student already has momentum and what the next few steps could look like.

We’ll walk through examples like:

• Robotics club → an original engineering portfolio
• Interest in science → research or a science fair project
• Weekend coding → an app with real users
• Writing for school → a publication or national competition
• An entrepreneurial idea → a real business
• Community service → an initiative the student actually leads
• A strong interest → a relevant competition, journal, mentor, or internship

We’ll also talk about what not to do.

Not every student needs to start a nonprofit. Not every project needs to win an award. And there is no value in manufacturing something just because it looks impressive on an application.

The strongest projects usually start with something a student already cares about.

They just need to understand what taking that interest seriously could look like.

A student who likes CAD may not realize they could build a portfolio or enter an engineering competition. A teenager interested in sports injuries may not know that interest could become a biomechanics research question. A strong writer may have no idea where work can be submitted outside of school.

Often, the biggest gap is simply knowing what is possible.

Curious Cardinals students have gone on to win the Congressional App Challenge, publish original research, present work to NASA, build revenue-generating businesses, and earn recognition for their writing.

During this event, we’ll show you how The FlightPlan identifies those possibilities and turns them into realistic next steps.

You’ll leave knowing how to look at your student’s extracurriculars as starting points, not just activities to list on an application.